Cedar Creek member Evans Duren once considered becoming a pastor or missionary. His love of people and ability for sales ushered him into a successful medical sales career, which paved the way for him to author a book and then start a coaching and consulting business in 2024. Membership with Midlands Christians in Business has expanded his sense of ministry, networking, and even mentoring among other like-minded professionals.
Duren says the devotional and fellowship time he experiences through Midlands Christians in Business is “grounding, and a recalibration for me when I’m there. It’s easy to think about the things you have to do as a business owner but it’s important to take time to breathe and connect with folks who agree with you on how business should be done.”
The group draws folks from a wide variety of industries, including food and beverage services, healthcare, senior living communities, banking, automotive, retirement and tax services. It’s a simple premise that could be duplicated in any local community setting – believers gather to network and encourage each other as they live out their faith in the workplace. This group sees about 100 Christian business owners and professionals meet for breakfast at the Jones Business School at Columbia International University on the second Thursday of each month and for a lunchtime session held every other month at locations in West Columbia and Irmo.
Founder David Tanner launched the group about two years ago as an in-person expansion of his Midlands Christian Directory, begun in 2014 as an online resource similar to a “Chamber of Commerce for Christian-owned businesses.” There is a nominal membership fee to join the organization, but visitors are welcome to check out the gatherings and Tanner is available to assist anyone interested in launching a group more local to them.
“My mission is to remind business owners that business is their ministry,” says Tanner, also a 30-year investment advisor. “When you start seeing it in that light it changes the way you do business, helping it become centered on others. God has always proven Himself faithful in taking care of the business part.”
Since it’s hosted on CIU’s Monticello Road campus in Columbia, Midlands Christians in Business welcomes CIU business students to join the monthly networking opportunities. Duren celebrates this mentoring exposure as a “unique bridge for entrepreneurs in the business program to get real-world experience seeing what it’s like to be in network settings with other professionals.”
Cynthia Villar serves as the director of CIU’s Business and Career Development Center. She connects students in the program to the Midlands group and even requires participation of senior students enrolled in her Capstone class. The Midlands group is one of several networking opportunities the program offers to students to expand their professional connections for future employment roles that she knows will serve as “the best space to impact others for the Kingdom.”
Associational Missions Strategist Jamie Rogers sees the marketplace as a critical mission field, offering professionals regular opportunities to engage with lost people. “The average lost person has no interest or plan to attend a church service, so we’re going to have to be intentional about going to them,” he says. “Lost people are in the marketplace working for us and with us, and shopping in our places of business.”
Duren speaks to the tendency for people to find their identity and value tied to production and output by reminding that “being with other believers reframes why we do what we do.” He challenges successful Christian professionals within the CMBA Family of Churches to “do something with the success you’ve experienced. You can be profitable and charitable at the same time because, at the end of the day, we’re stewards and it all belongs to Him.”
To learn more about Midlands Christians in Business or how to start a similar meeting in your context, visit Midlands Christian Directory